38 CROSSROADS SCHOOL FOR ARTS & SCIENCES
RETIRING EMPLOYEES
Trudy Cano
Twenty-four years ago, lured by longtime friends, Trudy Cano came to Crossroads as the secretary for Athletics. She had gone to grade school with Jim Untrauer, who worked in the Facilities Department. She knew Chuck Ice— for whom she and Cheryl Junod, then the Upper School administrative assistant, had worked when he was the athletics director at their high school, St. Monica Catholic. Chuck was the baseball coach and athletics director at Crossroads when Trudy applied. She’d loved working for him previously and was eager to return to work now that her children were in school full time. Trudy’s job grew as the school grew. She became the administrative assistant not only for athletics but also for physical education. She secured the sites, procured the officials and booked the game schedules. More recently, Trudy became the person who organized all the seasonal athletic banquets. By the time she left, Trudy was managing 20
Jamie Meyer
or so teams. She loved doing it all, but she feels that her greatest achievement was organizing the annual Sports Extravaganza, which was “bigger and better” every year. The Extravaganza started years ago with a parent named Linda Rambis, who arranged for an In-NOut Burger truck to be stationed outside the gym for the annual homecoming game against Brentwood. Now the Extravaganza has several In-N-Out trucks and many other vendors. Because the crowds cannot all fit into the gym, two huge outdoor screens show the action as it unfolds during basketball games. It’s a big deal. While she is proud of her accomplishments, Trudy prides herself in watching all the students play and working with her colleagues both at Crossroads and at other schools. Trudy retired in October 2020 and is as busy as ever walking her dog, gardening, reading and looking forward to travel.
The distance between South Dakota and Santa Monica is long, but Crossroads is lucky that Jamie Meyer made the trip—and stayed for 31 years. While visiting his twin sister in California, Jamie learned about a Latin position at Crossroads. Knowing next to nothing about independent schools, he decided to go to an interview at the School, just for fun. Immediately after the interview, Jamie was asked to teach a lesson to an eighth-grade Latin class. The students, at first mildly appalled by Jamie’s formal suit, stood and applauded by the end of the lesson. They have been applauding ever since. Jamie attributes his long tenure at the School to Crossroads’ inclusiveness. After feeling excluded and judged in former teaching positions, Jamie was comfortable being openly gay during his very first year at Crossroads—a true blessing. He knew he had found his home at the School. During the past 31 years, Jamie taught in the Middle
School for five years and spent the remaining years in the Upper School teaching Greek (until the program was terminated), and Latin. He sponsored the Crossroads Junior Classical League Club as well as PRIDE for many years. Jamie also has numerous Cabaret appearances to his name, most notably his sketch “Student Eye for the Teacher Guy”—an award-worthy performance! Jamie is proud of his undying passion for teaching. Now, as he retires, he wants to read voraciously; travel extensively; learn to speak conversational Latin, French and Spanish; and resume playing his grandmother’s baby grand piano. Jamie, you are loved and will be missed.
